Rail crash families denounce Norris

Relatives of the dead and injured from the Potters Bar rail crash have made a late attempt to wreck Steve Norris's mayoral campaign, denouncing him as "unfit" to hold office.

With three days until the election, members of the Potters Bar Claimants Group have hit out at the Tory candidate because of his continued chairmanship of the engineering group Jarvis, whose maintenance work was criticised after the crash two years ago, which claimed seven lives.

Jarvis and Network Rail have accepted liability for the crash to facilitate payments to relatives of the victims but insist that the cause of the accident is still unknown. Mr Norris has been criticised by many, including some inside his own party, for his refusal to stand down as Jarvis chairman. Opinion polls suggest the former transport minister is in second place, behind the Labour candidate, Ken Livingstone.

Nina Bawden, whose husband Austen Kark died in the crash, said: "Steve Norris is not a fit candidate to be London mayor as head of Jarvis. Jarvis is still trying to escape responsibility for the deaths of seven people and injuries to many others. It was not little green men who killed my husband. It was poor maintenance. There needs to be a public inquiry to make Jarvis take the blame."

The relatives are particularly aggrieved that in May 2002, Mr Norris claimed there was "prima facie evidence of sabotage".

Louise Christian, the lawyer representing many of the victims, said: "The best thing Londoners can do is vote in massive numbers to finish off Steve Norris's political career. His action in trying to cover up Jarvis's role in the Potters Bar crash makes him totally unfit."

But Mr Norris said the crash and Jarvis's involvement had no bearing on his mayoral campaign. "Potters Bar was an awful tragedy and I can quite understand why people are concerned. But you will appreciate that the police have stopped their investigation. The cause has yet to be established and the company has frequently called for a public inquiry."

The Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes, was criticised by some for releasing a campaign newspaper which published a photograph of a smiling Mr Norris alongside a picture of the wreckage from Potters Bar.